Thanks 2016

     As with all Thanksgivings (and all other days in the history of days), there is plenty to be grateful for and plenty not to.  Recently, a little less than half of voting Americans decided it was time for this country to, shall we say, reinvent itself.  Whether this fills you with unease or relief, you're probably grateful that the divisiveness of the campaign is behind us and eager to get to work building a future, however you might individually envision it.  As in Thanksgivings past,  here are few things to make some of your downtime from the building more enjoyable and even, perhaps, more insightful.

The Songs of Johnny Cash - I happen to have heard part of Hurt running under the trailer for the movie Logan.  The sense of longing and melancholy that rode so powerfully in the lyrics and Mr. Cash's voice made me curious to investigate his entire oeuvre.  It has, so far, proved most rewarding, both in its dark, searching depths and its funny, twangy highs.

Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye by Gerard Way, Jon Rivera and Michael Avon Oeming - One of the titles in DC's new Young Animals imprint, a line of comics founded on the tone and outlook of Grant Morrison's seminal Doom Patrol run.  Cave Carson is well and truly bonkers in the most delightful way, as the retired underground explorer (and obscure DC Comics Silver Age character) Carson is pulled back towards his former life in a particularly gruesome way.  Filled with wonder and darkness with a lovely and complicated father-daughter relationship at its heart.

Haunted by Leo Braudy - A cultural study of what we're scared of and why, tracing the lineage of our monstrous archetypes back through the centuries, searching for the historical events and currents that made certain horrors resonate so deeply in our collective unconscious.  Dense and extremely well-researched, this is not a light read, but it is loaded with fascinating insights into the things that truly make us tick.

     Happy Thanksgiving.  Be sure enjoy a good Turkey joke with your meal.